2008 Woodie Awards
Celebrate the 50 years of SIUE
Letter to the editor
Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: Opinion
As one of the "Founding Faculty" of SIUE, only slightly less frazzled than the papers that came out of the time capsule last Thursday, our 50th anniversary celebration has given me cause to remember the year 1957 (no, that's AD, not BCE; I'm not THAT old!) I doubt that many of you reading this have any direct memory of that year, but, for me, it is like yesterday. (Actually it is yesterday I have trouble remembering!) As a new Ph.D., starting with SIUE at a place called "The Alton Residence Center" was very big. It was clear from the start that Southwestern Illinois needed us. Evidently it still does.
But the start of SIUE wasn't recognized nationwide as the educational event of that year. President Eisenhower had to send US Army troops to enforce a federal court order to racially integrate Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas. That was the beginning of the end for legal segregation. Of course SIUE was never segregated, but this was still a boost for minority enrollment.
Later in that year the Russians launched an aluminum basketball called Sputnik I into earth's orbit, while the U.S. failed to do the same with a metal grapefruit. This frightened a lot of people at first, but it increased our interest in math and science education - at least for a while.
Even SIUE made a few in its infancy, but most of the important things were done right. President Delyte Morris should get most of the credit, of course, because he was determined to not perpetuate anything he didn't like about the campus he inherited at Carbondale.
One of the greatest things was getting 2,600 acres and putting the buildings in the middle. (Some state legislators condemned this as sheer extravagance.)
I hope everyone here appreciates our terrific campus. I toured Harvard a few weeks ago. I know that university has a larger endowment than SIUE (only by a paltry several billions), and has a few other things going for it, but it doesn't have a campus worthy of the name. If you are new to SIUE, or even if you are not, pick out some nice days to tour the bike paths, and especially the Donal G. Myer Arboretum.
Enjoy!
Laurence McAneny
Physics Professor Emeritus
But the start of SIUE wasn't recognized nationwide as the educational event of that year. President Eisenhower had to send US Army troops to enforce a federal court order to racially integrate Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas. That was the beginning of the end for legal segregation. Of course SIUE was never segregated, but this was still a boost for minority enrollment.
Later in that year the Russians launched an aluminum basketball called Sputnik I into earth's orbit, while the U.S. failed to do the same with a metal grapefruit. This frightened a lot of people at first, but it increased our interest in math and science education - at least for a while.
Even SIUE made a few in its infancy, but most of the important things were done right. President Delyte Morris should get most of the credit, of course, because he was determined to not perpetuate anything he didn't like about the campus he inherited at Carbondale.
One of the greatest things was getting 2,600 acres and putting the buildings in the middle. (Some state legislators condemned this as sheer extravagance.)
I hope everyone here appreciates our terrific campus. I toured Harvard a few weeks ago. I know that university has a larger endowment than SIUE (only by a paltry several billions), and has a few other things going for it, but it doesn't have a campus worthy of the name. If you are new to SIUE, or even if you are not, pick out some nice days to tour the bike paths, and especially the Donal G. Myer Arboretum.
Enjoy!
Laurence McAneny
Physics Professor Emeritus
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